Neo's Addiction
by the Wallmaker
Summary: It's a leftover from his time spent in the Matrix...You have to understand that eating this realworld food has been quite a shock to him, Trinity explained.


Neo's Addiction

DISCLAIMER: I don't own. You don't sue. Okay?

"C'mon, Trinity."

"No, Neo. I don't know why I even helped you create that program." Trinity looked over at the monitor, and noticed that Neo had already booted it. The gleam of the white kitchen counter tops shown on the monitors starkly contrasted with their present surroundings in the Main Deck. Neo was already sitting in his suspension chair, waiting to be jacked in.

"Please, Trinity." His dark brown eyes begged. Sighing, Trinity could never resist him, especially when he pulled what she called "his puppy-eyes thing". She grasped the connection and plugged Neo into his program.

"Addicted..." She muttered as she watched Neo suddenly appear in the program. She pushed the button that allowed her to speak into the program. "You're addicted!" She spat into the microphone. The program that they had created used the kitchen that she had while living in the Matrix. Fighting a sudden bout of homesickness, she watched Neo wave, indicating that he had heard her insult, and approach the oak dining table. Trinity flicked a switch and the monitors went blank. Rolling her eyes, she left the room. He could be hours in the program.

The bright sunshine coming in through the kitchen windows made Neo squint a bit before his eyes adjusted. He looked over at the table and glimpsed what he had come for. The small orange box beckoned to him. It sat in the exact center of the table, its front towards the one chair. Before Neo went to it, (he wasn't addicted, no matter what Trinity said), he stood in the middle of the kitchen, _Trinity's_ kitchen, and simply breathed in, enjoying the surroundings. If she hadn't said anything while they programmed this, Neo still would have known that it was her place. Her personality was stamped on everything. Neo gazed up at the stained glass in the window. Three rhombuses of different colours, joined by one corner, made a triangle that filtered the light through it and cast multi-coloured shadows on the table. His gaze followed the shadows and they were led to the orange box again.

Smiling, he went to it. Slowly sitting down in the one chair, he pulled the box towards him. It was funny how one could miss the feel of cardboard. He pulled the box open and ripped the bag inside all in one quick motion. Savouring the smell, he reached in.

"Where is Neo?" Morpheus asked quietly.

"He's in a program."

Puzzled, "What kind of program? He's got all of them memorized and has beaten them all twelve different ways."

Sighing, Trinity told him about Neo's addiction. "It's a leftover from his time spent in the Matrix... You have to understand that eating this real world food has been quite a shock to him..."

Morpheus broke into her explanation. "I would like you to plug me into this program."

"What?! I can't do that! He asked me not to tell anyone about this..."

"As your commanding officer, Trinity, I-"

"Yeah, yeah, fine, whatever," Trinity muttered, "I hate it when you power trip on me." 

Morpheus smiled.

"Hand them over, Neo."

The orange box was hidden behind Neo's back. Neo had leapt from the chair, startled, when Morpheus appeared in his program.

"Hand them over." Morpheus repeated firmly.

"I can't."

"Now."

"No!"

Neo's body jerked in the chair, and by the time Trinity had come across the room and pushed the button on the small monitor to see what was going on, Morpheus was sitting on Neo's back and was happily munching on the small crackers that had spilled from the box.

"Damn, I loved these things! Do you know how long it has been since I've had them? _Too_ long! Do you remember the jingle on television?"

"Get off of me!"

"The snack that smiles back! Until you bite their heads off!" Morpheus tossed the tiny orange Goldfish Cracker into his mouth, ignoring Neo's protests and shouts.

This continued until Trinity's voice boomed from somewhere above them. "I am so sick of this stupid program! I'm shutting it down! You're acting like children!" True to her word, the program kitchen around them flickered and vanished.

Standing up in the bright white space of the Construct, Neo straightened out his clothing. Apologizing to his mentor, he explained. "Trinity's never had Goldfish. She doesn't know what she's doing." 

Morpheus nodded. "If she doesn't delete that program, may I help you program two boxes of crackers into it?"

Neo nodded soberly. "Thanks. We should get back."

"Yeah. If she'll let us." Morpheus stared around into the white and waited to be disconnected.

A/N: My fist Matrix fic, hope you enjoyed it. The Matrix is intelectual property of the Wachowski Brothers. Goldfish Crackers are property of Pepperidge Farm. I am not affiliated with either. I make no profit off of this expression of fandom.


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